In 1993, Muriel Delbecq was brutally raped and murdered while vacationing in Hawaii. Her killer took his time thinking of sadistic ways to torture her. When the details of her murder reached the shores of California, detectives in Long Beach noticed striking similarities between Muriel’s death and an unsolved rape and homicide in their city. What was the killer’s signature? A mousse can.
In 1986, 55-year-old Marjorie Deeble worked as a real estate agent for the Great Western Real Estate office in Los Alamitos, California. She was the mother of a 23-year-old daughter named Katherine, who lived roughly 10 miles away from her.
Recently, Marjorie and Katherine’s relationship developed into not only a mother-daughter relationship but a friendship. In May of 1986, Katherine introduced her mom to her new boyfriend, Robert Mark Edwards which would turn out to be the biggest mistake of her life.
In January 1993, 67-year-old Muriel Delbecq, a realtor who lived in Alaska, vacationed in Hawaii. Around Christmas and New Year every year, she went there to visit her daughter, Peggy Kay Ventura. On Monday, January 25, 1993, Muriel and Peggy spent the day playing golf together, and then Muriel drove Peggy home.
The next morning, Peggy called her mother at 7:20 a.m., but there was no answer. Concerned took over, and she decided to drove to her mom’s home. When she knocked on the door there was no response. Using her the spare key Muriel gave her, Peggyopened the condo door. As soon as she opened the door, Peggy noticed blood on the carpet and above the front entrance. In a panic, Peggy tried to call 9- 1 – 1, but the telephone, which was usually on a table beside the couch, was missing.
Marjorie’s murder remained unsolved for seven years until police noticed strange similarities between her murder and Muriel’s murder in Hawaii. Listen to “The Mousse Can Murders” to find out what happens.